Vastly experienced Iranian referee Alireza Faghani has taken charge of a number of high-profile AFC finals and is one of 36 officials given the nod to officiate in Russia, The Sun newspaper wrote on Saturday.
THE son of a referee, Faghani spent seven seasons in the Persian Gulf Pro League before making the jump to internationals.
Photo by FIFA
With VAR used for the first time, Faghani has already been handed the reigns at some of the tournament's biggest games.
Originally a player in the lower Iranian leagues, he became a ref and joined the Fifa-elite list just one year after making his top-flight debut.
In his career the Iranian has been in charge for the finals of the 2014 AFC Champions League, 2015 AFC Asian Cup, 2015 Club World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
Faghani is also registered in the Indonesian League and takes charge of domestic games in the top-flight.
Expect to see plenty of cards in the games that the Iranian takes charge of in Russia - he dishes out an average of 4.40 per match.
FAGHANI was at the 2014 World Cup - but was named as a fourth official for the opener between Brazil and Croatia.
He's also been on the big stage at the Olympics and numerous AFC Cup finals around the continent.
But in 2018 he has already been given some of the biggest games, such as Germany vs Mexico, Serbia vs Brazil and France vs Argentina.
